Heading into the 2014 college football season, the NCAA has fine-tuned several of its rules in hopes of creating a more consistent and fair on-field product.

Here's a look at four of the more prominent rules changes fans watching the University of Massachusetts football team this season should keep an eye out for, beginning with the targeting rule that's gotten so much attention lately.

Last year, much was made of the penalty, including by yours truly here in this space. Basically, the old rule for targeting – which constitutes a hit from a defender to the head or neck area of a defenseless player – that resulted in an automatic 15-yard penalty was strengthened to include an automatic ejection for the guilty party. Video replay could keep the player in the game if the infraction was found to be not as egregious as originally thought, but the 15-yard penalty would remain.

It happened to UMass once last season when safety Antoine Tharpe was flagged and ejected in the Minutemen's win over Miami (Ohio). For 2014, the targeting rule is getting tweaked after a season's worth of feedback:

- Instant replay can now overturn the 15-yard penalty as well as the ejection

Now, when the officials put on the headset and reverse the verdict on a video replay review of a targeting foul, not only will the player in question remain eligible to play, but the 15 yards are not marched off (assuming there are any other personal fouls on the play). It's a common sense move and one that will be appreciated by coaches everywhere. If you didn't do the crime, why should you be punished?

- For games being played without instant replay, a halftime review will be used instead

Believe it or not, but there are games played each season without the luxury of instant replay. In such cases, there was previously no possibility of overturning anything following a targeting call – now there will be. In the case of one of a replay-less games, officials have the option of reviewing an infraction during halftime. Should a penalized player be found to be wrongly accused, he will be permitted to return to the game for the second half. Players ejected in the second half of games will go before a national review so that their ban from the start of the next game might be uplifted.

Penalty yardage will not be overturned however, because if these stadiums don't have instant replay, it's unlikely they come with a time machine. This rule change stipulates that conference or pregame rules must be in place before the start of play in order to determine what video will be used.

Two other new rules don't involve targeting:

- Roughing the passer extends to include low hits at or below the knee

This rule change is similar to the Tom Brady rule put into effect in the NFL after the New England Patriots quarterback was lost for the year in 2008 following a low hit to the legs that tore his ACL. The key here is the use of the term "forcible contact." Essentially, that means a defender can't lunge at the lower legs of a quarterback with his head, shoulders or arms in an attempt to knock him off his feet. Incidental contact, of course, will happen, especially when a defender is blocked into the quarterback, and won't be penalized. However, that can be a tricky judgement call and probably won't always be made correctly.

- Uniform numbers must contrast in color with the jersey

College football uniforms nowadays can get weird. Like, really weird. They're used to excited fans and entice recruits and usually end up offending uniform traditionalists in the process. In 2014, the NCAA is further clarifying a previous rule that requires some of the most wacky uniforms – the ones that have numerals that blend in with the uniform color – to be easier to read.

Beginning this season, if officials see that a team is wearing such a uniform, they will request the team change into something else. Noncompliance will result in a charged timeout and the team will be asked again between each quarter to change with a further timeout being charged each time the team says no. Teams only receive six timeouts in regulation per game – three each half – so the potential for losing four of them because of illegal uniforms is a strong deterrent.